With Arsenal’s season going from bad to worse, Rio Ferdinand has described the kind of player Mikel Arteta should sign in the summer.
Rio Ferdinand has urged Arsenal to sign a ‘Cavani-type’ player, but he accepts the club will struggle to do so.
The Gunners are on the brink of failing to qualify for Europe for the first time in 25 years following a Europa League semi-final exit at the hands of former manager Unai Emery and his Villarreal side.
After a 2-1 first-leg loss in Spain last week, Arsenal needed at least one goal in the return leg to progress. But, like many times before this season, they struggled to pose any significant threat in the attack and were held to a 0-0 home draw, sealing their Europa League fate.
The result, along with Arsenal languishing down in ninth place in the Premier League, has raised doubts over Arteta’s future.
Arteta on what he can say to the fans to assure them this is a project to get behind: "We have to show them on the pitch, not talking. We are hugely disappointed because we wanted to deliver something special to them after the difficult season that we had" #Arsenal pic.twitter.com/PZivwEdXKN
— Gurjit (@GurjitAFC) May 6, 2021
But if the club board elect to continue with the under-fire Gunners manager, Ferdinand believes they should focus on signing players that make an impact in the dressing room as well as the pitch.
“If they do stay with Mikel Arteta, it’s then about the recruitment,” said the former Manchester United defender on BT Sport.
“Not just about the quality of the players. The characters you bring in, the leaders, and people who can influence a change. People that the younger players who can look at that and go: ‘Do you know what? I’m going to follow that’.
“A [Edinson] Cavani-type. The problem is getting a Cavani-type to come to a club ninth in the league at the moment is a difficult thing to get.”
Ferdinand, along with his former United and England teammate Paul Scholes, also gave his views on Arteta’s future as Arsenal manager.
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